Wednesday, June 23, 2010
I'm still here
I'm hoping to have some more restaurant reviews for you soon. I've also starting posting my blog reviews at UrbanSpoon.com
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Taqueria Guanajuato
This is a new restaurant on Wedington Avenue (by Rupple). If you've heard me talk about the Philippino restaurant and grocery in the strip mall, well, it's gone. There's now a Mexican restaurant, grocery, and hairdressers there instead.
Since the name is Taqueria Guanajuato, I'm assuming they're from the Mexican state of Guanajuato (see mandatory Wikipedia article).
TG is a bare bones type of place. It's L-shaped, with tables in the short part and booths in the long part. The walls are brightly painted, but they didn't have a whole lot of decorations up. The booths are basic and seemed a little small. There were two girls working as servers when we arrived. One was definitely a teenager, the other more college-aged, and she had English as a second language.
We sat down, and they brought out salsa and chips. The salsa was nice and fresh tasting, and there was hot and mild, although hot wasn't that hot. The chips were really really good! They're thin and crispy, no salt. Yummy! I had ice tea, of course, but ordered unsweet. It was alright. Not the best, but definitely drinkable.
Once our food arrived, we realized that this was an actual Mexican restaurant, not a Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex restaurant. Yay! I had a combo plate: 1 steak taco, 1 pork tamale, rice, and beans. Without cheese of course. My mom had the same, but with cheese. I was impressed by the steak taco. It was small pieces of beef, on 2 small corn tortillas (4"), lightly oiled and heated. There were onions and cilantro on top, and I squeezed lime juice on it. It was delicious! My mom had cheese on hers, and Frank said it looked like actual queso fresco, not Monterrey Jack. The beans and rice were a little plain, and a little small, but I mixed them together and they were good too. No salad on the plate. The pork tamale was a regular shredded pork tamale, with red sauce, in a corn husk rapper. It didn't look like a lot of food, but it was filling and it was only $5!
Frank had the Cubana torta, which appeared to be one of those pressed Cuban sandwiches, but wasn't. The bread was just thin (and raised) but it wasn't pressed. It had pork, cheese, and ham on it, as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado. There was also some kind of sauce. The sandwich was oval, about 4" x 8". Frank said it was "all kinds of good." I think this is his new favorite nearby place to eat.
The menu is pretty interesting. Most items on the menu are a la carte. They have different categories: tacos, burritos, sopes, tortas, quesadillas, gorditas, and huaraches. Under each category they have the same basic meats: grilled steak, beef head, beef tongue, spicy sausage, marinated pork, ham/bacon/beef/cheese/pineapple, pork intestines, pork stomach, chicken, and pork. They have specials every weekday, and menudo on the weekends. They're open from 8 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week. They also have some specials, some breakfast food, a kids menu and ceviche.
Overall, we really liked it. If you want some kind of fancy place with margaritas, this isn't the place for you. But if you want good food, for pretty cheap nowadays, give Taqueria Guanajuato a try.
Since the name is Taqueria Guanajuato, I'm assuming they're from the Mexican state of Guanajuato (see mandatory Wikipedia article).
TG is a bare bones type of place. It's L-shaped, with tables in the short part and booths in the long part. The walls are brightly painted, but they didn't have a whole lot of decorations up. The booths are basic and seemed a little small. There were two girls working as servers when we arrived. One was definitely a teenager, the other more college-aged, and she had English as a second language.
We sat down, and they brought out salsa and chips. The salsa was nice and fresh tasting, and there was hot and mild, although hot wasn't that hot. The chips were really really good! They're thin and crispy, no salt. Yummy! I had ice tea, of course, but ordered unsweet. It was alright. Not the best, but definitely drinkable.
Once our food arrived, we realized that this was an actual Mexican restaurant, not a Tex-Mex or Cal-Mex restaurant. Yay! I had a combo plate: 1 steak taco, 1 pork tamale, rice, and beans. Without cheese of course. My mom had the same, but with cheese. I was impressed by the steak taco. It was small pieces of beef, on 2 small corn tortillas (4"), lightly oiled and heated. There were onions and cilantro on top, and I squeezed lime juice on it. It was delicious! My mom had cheese on hers, and Frank said it looked like actual queso fresco, not Monterrey Jack. The beans and rice were a little plain, and a little small, but I mixed them together and they were good too. No salad on the plate. The pork tamale was a regular shredded pork tamale, with red sauce, in a corn husk rapper. It didn't look like a lot of food, but it was filling and it was only $5!
Frank had the Cubana torta, which appeared to be one of those pressed Cuban sandwiches, but wasn't. The bread was just thin (and raised) but it wasn't pressed. It had pork, cheese, and ham on it, as well as lettuce, tomato, onion, and avocado. There was also some kind of sauce. The sandwich was oval, about 4" x 8". Frank said it was "all kinds of good." I think this is his new favorite nearby place to eat.
The menu is pretty interesting. Most items on the menu are a la carte. They have different categories: tacos, burritos, sopes, tortas, quesadillas, gorditas, and huaraches. Under each category they have the same basic meats: grilled steak, beef head, beef tongue, spicy sausage, marinated pork, ham/bacon/beef/cheese/pineapple, pork intestines, pork stomach, chicken, and pork. They have specials every weekday, and menudo on the weekends. They're open from 8 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week. They also have some specials, some breakfast food, a kids menu and ceviche.
Overall, we really liked it. If you want some kind of fancy place with margaritas, this isn't the place for you. But if you want good food, for pretty cheap nowadays, give Taqueria Guanajuato a try.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
NWA Has Indian Food?!?
When did this happen? The last time I saw Indian food here was at a hotel in Bentonville, and it wasn't that good. Well, apparently a place named India Corner has been around for about 2 years now and serves Punjabi style food. It's located in Rogers, approximately the northwest corner of S. 8th Street and Poplar. If you're coming from the interstate, take exist 85 (Walnut St.) and then turn right when you get to S. 8th.
The restaurant is a little building in the U section of a rundown motel called The Traveler's Lodge. I think it was originally a Mexican restaurant. It has booths and tables, and was playing country music when we were there. They're closed on Mondays. They have a decent-sized menu and take-out, but we went for the buffet. We were also the only non-Indians in there, which I consider a good sign.
The buffet is small but good. And when I say small, I mean small even by Indian buffet standards. This isn't a 100 item Chinese buffet! There was rice, nan, some kind of bean dish, some kind of chicken dish, some dish I really couldn't recognize, saag, and rice pudding. I think it was $11, but it was worth it! When the server saw us eating nan he brought out a freshly cooked plate of it. The chicken was probably a vindaloo. It was pretty good, although it was a bit spicy (for those of you from the Mid-West, I believe that translates as Oh My God This Is Hot).
The saag was incredible! Saag is a spinach dish, and we're used to saag paneer (the spinach-cheese version) which is creamier. This one didn't have any cheese but the flavor was amazing! It was much spinachier [is this a word?] than we're used to. Next time Frank is getting the lamb saag. The last dish was the bean dish, for you vegetarians out there. It was kidney beans, with onions and stuff, in a soupy mixture. It was also really really good! The beans were whole, but almost melted in your mouth they were so creamy. This dish had very little heat but lots of flavor.
In general, all of these dishes had an underlying sweet tone to them. What I call "normal" Indian food doesn't have that, so I guess I've never really eaten Punjabi before. It was good though. It's not a sugary sweetness, just a sweet undertone, like from carrots or sweet potatoes. I would give this place 4 out of 5 stars. The food is great, the ambiance is generic. The glasses were a bit scratched up and water-stained, which may bother some people. It's sort of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in some ways. But we plan on going back soon!
The restaurant is a little building in the U section of a rundown motel called The Traveler's Lodge. I think it was originally a Mexican restaurant. It has booths and tables, and was playing country music when we were there. They're closed on Mondays. They have a decent-sized menu and take-out, but we went for the buffet. We were also the only non-Indians in there, which I consider a good sign.
The buffet is small but good. And when I say small, I mean small even by Indian buffet standards. This isn't a 100 item Chinese buffet! There was rice, nan, some kind of bean dish, some kind of chicken dish, some dish I really couldn't recognize, saag, and rice pudding. I think it was $11, but it was worth it! When the server saw us eating nan he brought out a freshly cooked plate of it. The chicken was probably a vindaloo. It was pretty good, although it was a bit spicy (for those of you from the Mid-West, I believe that translates as Oh My God This Is Hot).
The saag was incredible! Saag is a spinach dish, and we're used to saag paneer (the spinach-cheese version) which is creamier. This one didn't have any cheese but the flavor was amazing! It was much spinachier [is this a word?] than we're used to. Next time Frank is getting the lamb saag. The last dish was the bean dish, for you vegetarians out there. It was kidney beans, with onions and stuff, in a soupy mixture. It was also really really good! The beans were whole, but almost melted in your mouth they were so creamy. This dish had very little heat but lots of flavor.
In general, all of these dishes had an underlying sweet tone to them. What I call "normal" Indian food doesn't have that, so I guess I've never really eaten Punjabi before. It was good though. It's not a sugary sweetness, just a sweet undertone, like from carrots or sweet potatoes. I would give this place 4 out of 5 stars. The food is great, the ambiance is generic. The glasses were a bit scratched up and water-stained, which may bother some people. It's sort of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in some ways. But we plan on going back soon!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Chatham Chilidogs
Okay, so my current travels aren't abroad, they're in Louisiana. And the best chilidog I've had in a loooong time is at J&H in Chatham. Their dogs are those nasty looking red hot dogs. I like mine with chili and mustard and onions. And they are absolutely delicious! I'm not sure if they're really that good or if it's partly nostalgia, but I don't care!
J&H started as a small stand, but now they have a bigger place. There's still a walk-up window, but there's also a sit-down area inside, and some plastic tables outside. And, of course, their sweet tea is excellent!
J&H started as a small stand, but now they have a bigger place. There's still a walk-up window, but there's also a sit-down area inside, and some plastic tables outside. And, of course, their sweet tea is excellent!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Lauren Lives!
Hello everyone. I just wanted to give y'all a short update of the past year. It's been a wacky year with peaks of ultimate awesomeness and troughs of total drek. I'm not posting this to get sympathy, I just wanted to let everyone know what's been going on. I've been fairly incommunicado for the past year and I keep getting these "hello, are you still there" e-mails.
Let's see. Last summer started great! I spent two months in Oman, hence this blog. A week before I returned, one of my friends in grad school committed suicide. Of course, since I barely had Internet access, I had no idea of what had happened to him. I started studying for comps, but then kind of collapsed from exhaustion and stress. I went straight from Master's to Ph.D. and I think I was burnt out too. I managed to make my November research trip to the JFK Library in Boston - I love scallops and chowda! But shortly after my return I got even sicker. Then over Thanksgiving my great-aunt died. That may not sound like much but she and my grandfather (her brother) were very close, so she was almost like a 3rd grandmother in some respects. I saw family over the holidays and in the New Year I started feeling a little bit better. Then I got the wonderful birthday present of my father going into the hospital. We drove down immediately and the first day I saw him was literally on my birthday. But Frank got the wonderful birthday present of a job! My dad was in ICU for 6 weeks and then he died in June of necrotic pancreatitis. We still don't know how he got it - he wasn't a drinker. I've been staying with my mom off and on. And then in July we traded in my poor 11-year-old truck, via Cash For Clunkers, for a Scion xB.
So that's been my tumultuous year. Here's hoping this school year is much better!
Let's see. Last summer started great! I spent two months in Oman, hence this blog. A week before I returned, one of my friends in grad school committed suicide. Of course, since I barely had Internet access, I had no idea of what had happened to him. I started studying for comps, but then kind of collapsed from exhaustion and stress. I went straight from Master's to Ph.D. and I think I was burnt out too. I managed to make my November research trip to the JFK Library in Boston - I love scallops and chowda! But shortly after my return I got even sicker. Then over Thanksgiving my great-aunt died. That may not sound like much but she and my grandfather (her brother) were very close, so she was almost like a 3rd grandmother in some respects. I saw family over the holidays and in the New Year I started feeling a little bit better. Then I got the wonderful birthday present of my father going into the hospital. We drove down immediately and the first day I saw him was literally on my birthday. But Frank got the wonderful birthday present of a job! My dad was in ICU for 6 weeks and then he died in June of necrotic pancreatitis. We still don't know how he got it - he wasn't a drinker. I've been staying with my mom off and on. And then in July we traded in my poor 11-year-old truck, via Cash For Clunkers, for a Scion xB.
So that's been my tumultuous year. Here's hoping this school year is much better!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Cool bird!
On the 2nd excursion, I saw a weird bird scuttle across the roadway. It was grey and almost quailish, but bigger than any quail I'd ever seen. Well, I think I finally found out what it was: Arabian Partridge! I've been looking and looking through photos, and this is really close. Although I thought it had a dohickey on top of its head. Oh well.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Photo updates!!!
I've updated my photos! There are now 3 sections: Muscat, Salalah, and Excursions. More photos will follow soon, I hope. Also - one of the new photo albums is in the Muscat section (be sure to check out the salad bar at Haffa House Hotel!). If you don't remember the link, e-mail me.
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